October 4th 2023.
This October marks the 30th anniversary of Disney's sports comedy Cool Runnings. The film's director, Jon Turteltaub, recently reunited with the cast for an interview with The Independent, during which they revealed behind-the-scenes issues they had with Disney producers.
The movie was based on the real-life inaugural Jamaican bobsleigh team at the 1998 Winter Olympics, but it took a huge shift from its original concept when it was released in theaters. It had been 'Disneyfied' and 'Americanized' to make it more family-friendly and to ensure that viewers from the middle America would understand the Jamaican accents.
Just Leon, who played team member Derice, explained "They wanted me to sound like a Black Aladdin. They wanted a Disney version. It was tough because if anybody wants to be authentic, it's me - but I'm a professional, and I had to do the job."
Another cast member, Malik Yoba, shared that they received a stern phone call from former Disney Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg and were threatened to be fired if they did not do something about the accents.
Turteltaub then told his actors about the predicament, saying "The next day, I told the cast, 'I'm going to get fired if you don't sound like Sebastian the Crab. Please don't get me fired.'" Sebastian the Crab is a character from Disney's 1989 hit film The Little Mermaid with an affected Jamaican accent.
The director also stated that while it wasn't favorable, they managed to get the job done in a way that wasn't racially offensive. He said, "We joked about it, but they got it. They understood. 'We're not going to do Sebastian the Crab, but we're going to make an Americanized version of the movie that people around the world can understand.'"
Turteltaub concluded the interview by admitting that there's "zero chance" he would get to direct the movie if it were being developed now. He said they made a "pretty great movie" despite the "tricky" circumstances.
Viewers can now watch Cool Runnings on Disney+ or rent it on Amazon Prime.
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